Fortiflura(sp?) and how to say no to I/D?? Update!

[Shannon Querry]

Poor Fleury girl is still having trouble with her belly. We switched(slowly) from Fromms to California Natural. We also got California Natural treats and took them to the kennel for when she's there in daycare. We were doing pumpkin but now can not find it anywhere. I started adding yogurt again to her food(Activia in particular) and still we are dealing with loose stool or pudding type stool on a daily basis. I was adding some white rice in for a few days and 2 BM's were normal and I got excited, then she got into the cats TOTW!!! Needless to say she had massive blow out diarrhea today.

 

We went to the open house at the vets on Sunday and I was talking to the vet that I take her to most often and she mentioned the fortiflura. She said to try that for 30 days on her food with nothing else and see what happens before we do any other test. She also mentioned the dreaded I/D which I told her I will not be feeding her. I told her I would boil her chicken or beef and rice for the rest of her life before I fed her that stuff LOL!!  Here's the problem I k

 

 

 

 

Update-Well we're on day 5 of the chicken/rice/yogurt combo and she's doing great! She hasn't had many BM's since we started this but what she has had have been small and totally normal. I guess we know what this means! I bought some of the missing link today too so that I can it to what I'm feeding her. I need to do something about fiber though because since she's not having as many BM's I could smell anal glands, yuck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Um...it is a gourmet meal. I had frozen chicken kiev for dinner last night.
"Aunt Jane's Canine Creations"! A new business for you! I'll help with marketing, I've learned about that from the DF companies!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

You're too funny, Karen! Actually I sometimes give my DH that frozen chicken kiev on nights when I'm cooking the "batch" for Guinness.

[Shannon Querry]

I agree with Karen, that is a gourmet meal! :) I have no problem with homecooking for her if that's what it takes. I bought a big bag of chicken thighs today and a big bag of rice that I will work on cooking for her today so she can have it for dinner tonight. How many times a day do you feed him? And how do you determine how much?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I feed Guinness twice a day. I feed him about the same amount as the dog food. He is 16 pounds so he gets a little less than a cup twice a day. The chicken thighs make a nice broth that Guinness absolutely loves! When I use the thighs I don't have to add any canned broth (low sodium), it makes it's own. When I was doing just the chicken & rice with no veggies I mixed the meal about 50% each. When I add vegs I do 40-40-20. I'm sure she will love her dinner tonight!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would also suggest cutting the chicken into very tiny pieces at first. I use a kitchen scissors to cut it after it's cooked and before mixing with the rice.

[Michele Glass]

Hi, I thought I would put in my experience with Cody. He's had tummy troubles from day 1 when we got him. Diarrhea and throwing up. We put him right away on Blue Buffalo, it seemed to help w/ digestion issues, but he started having terrible itching problems. His feet were pink from licking and chewing on them so much. So we switched him to Iams Naturals, that didn't help, so the next food we tried was California Natural, the vet said it's a low ingredient food and if you get the Salmon & Sweet Potato it should help figure out what he could be allergic to. This was great, his digestive problems were over and his itching stopped, but the smell of the food was terrible fishy smell. We are dealing with it because he likes it and it's seems to be the right food for him. He can't have any chicken treats or any bully sticks, hoofs, or any digestible treats that aren't California Natural. Just recently we discovered Zukes peanut butter treats are great for training and don't upset his tummy either. Anything Zukes makes seems ok, no grains or yucky stuff. We also add a spoon of plain yogurt mixed in so he eats the whole bowl of food when WE feed him 2 x day, it seems to be helping him get regulated. It used to just sit in his bowl sometimes all day before he would eat it, drove me crazy because I could never remember when he ate last or how much food he'd eaten that day. Now we know when he eats and how much.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Karen,

I just want to thank you again for all the great info available through this group.  We took Sgt. Pepper to the vet last night

and she ( a new vet I had not met before) prescribed Fortiflora for his tummy problems.  Well, something bothered me and my daughter reminded me that I had convinced her not to use it a while back.  I just re-read these comments about it and will

be returning it to the vet when I go back in a week to see our regular vet.  Good info is hard to come by, oh, yes, she also

suggested Hills ID which I promptly said 'No thanks" to.